The Wallie V. Funk photographs and
papers contain photographs, negatives, newspaper articles, proof sheets,
mock-ups, and textual materials documenting the personal and professional life
of Pacific Northwest resident, journalist, and photographer, Wallie V. Funk.
Funk co-owned and was managing editor of three independent newspapers: the
Anacortes American, the Whidbey News-Times, and the South Whidbey Record,
between 1950 and 1989. The bulk of the collection reflects Funk's professional
career and civic involvement.

Funding for preparing this
finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Historical
Publications and Records Commission. Funding for encoding the finding aid was
awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

A lifelong resident of Island and Skagit counties, Wallie Valentine
Funk had a successful and prolific career in journalism and photography that
spanned more than four decades. During that time, Funk co-owned, managed,
edited, and published three independent newspapers: the Anacortes American, the
Whidbey News-Times, and the South Whidbey Record. Funk was also a civic leader
whose personal interests mirrored the broad range of his professional
interests. His writings and photographs chronicle and preserve key events
happening during his career. Funk extensively traveled the world, documenting
his experiences through tens of thousands of photographs, negatives, textual
materials, and memorabilia.

Funk’s grandparents, Valentine Funk (1863-1956) and Barbara
(Miltenberger) Funk (1856-1947) were German immigrants to the United States who
settled in Anacortes, Washington in 1890. They prospered in both business
ventures and real estate. One of their holdings included the historic Wilson
Hotel, a three story brick icon in Anacortes. Funk’s grandparents had two
children, Wallie V. Funk, Sr. (1892-1955) and Louise Mackin (1903-1996). After
serving in the U.S. Army during World War I, Wallie V. Funk, Sr. followed in
his father’s footsteps in business and investments in the Anacortes area. He
courted and married local school teacher, Irene Brown (1896-1996), in 1921.
Their union produced Wallie V. Funk (b. 1922), James (b. 1927), and Charles
(1927-1987).

Wallie V. Funk graduated from Anacortes High School in 1941, but his
university education was interrupted by his military service during World War
II. However, he subsequently graduated from the University of Washington,
majoring in journalism, in 1948. Funk served as President of his graduating
class and received four honoraries, including one for journalism. After
obtaining his university education, Funk vacationed in Europe for seven months.
In 1950 he, along with his personal friend and fellow U.W. student John Webber,
purchased the Anacortes American newspaper. In 1954, Funk married Mary Ann
Ringwell (b. 1926), also a local schoolteacher. They had two sons, Mark
(b.1955) and Carl (b. 1957). After selling the Anacortes American in 1964, Funk
and Weber purchased the Whidbey News-Times and the South Whidbey Record on
Whidbey Island. They jointly owned, published, and operated these newspapers
until 1989.

Funks’ first editorial in the Anacortes American was a front page plea
to his fellow citizens for help in preserving local history. He asked that old
photographs be brought to the American for publication. This was the beginning
of both a seven year local project and of Funk’s massive history collection. In
1954, he added significantly to his personal archives. Ferd Brady, a well-known
and respected local photographer, retired after a twenty five year career in
Anacortes. Brady loaded a truck full of negatives for a one way trip to the
local dump. Funk quickly offered Brady twenty five dollars for the lot, and
Brady agreed.

Funk’s personal photographic efforts are prolific. The images he
captured in his candid camera are eclectic. Just a small sampling includes six
U.S. Presidents, Orca Whales, a varied array of sporting events, landscapes,
high school graduations, military events, performing arts productions, and
birthing room photos of the 1967 Whidbey Naval Air Station New Year’s baby.

Funk’s activity in his community included a wide range of interests. A
complete list of civic organizations in which he was involved is too lengthy
for this note, however, a short list includes: the Navy League (Oak Harbor
Council President, Washington State President and National Director), the
Washington State Newspaper Publishers Association, Washington State Trade
Delegations (China in 1980, the Middle East in 1983, and Thailand in 1985), the
Washington State Arts Commission, the Anacortes Community Theater, the Whidbey
Playhouse, Skagit County Pioneer Association, the Museum of Northwest Art, and
the Anacortes Museum.

In his retirement, Funk continued to document the history of his
community, writing articles through 2001, and taking photographs up until 2002.
Wallie V. Funk presently lives near Anacortes on Fidalgo Island.

The Wallie V. Funk photographs and papers are primarily composed of
the nearly 50,000 photographic images taken by Funk during his successful and
prolific career in journalism and photography, spanning four decades. Funk
co-owned and was managing editor of three independent newspapers between 1950
and 1989: the Anacortes American, the Whidbey News-Times, and the South Whidbey
Record. The collection is arranged in two series, Personal and Family Papers,
1919-2002, and Professional Papers, 1890-2004. The bulk of the collection
reflects Funk’s professional career and his civic involvements.

The photographs and negatives contain images of people, places,
events, and the environment of Whidbey Island, Skagit County, and Island County
in Washington State. Other collection images taken by Funk reflect political
events in Washington, D.C., his travels with the Washington State Trade
Delegations (China in 1980, the Middle East in 1983, Thailand in 1985) and
trips to Europe. Additionally, the collection contains a diverse and sizable
selection of textual materials, including newspaper articles, images, and
Funk’s editorials. Much of this latter material enhances Funk’s photographic
efforts.

Funk’s photograph collection covers a wide range of subject matter,
including candid images of six U.S. Presidents (Carter, Ford, Kennedy, Lynden
Johnson, Nixon and Reagan), rock groups The Beatles and The Rolling Stones,
captured Orca Whales, high school and professional sporting events, flora and
fauna, military events, and performing arts productions.

Civic events and organizations well documented in the collection by
photographs and textual materials include, but are not limited to, the Navy
League, Whidbey Playhouse, the Washington State Arts Commission, and Whidbey
Island Naval Air Station.

Custodial History

Wallie V. Funk donated the materials in his collection to the Center
for Pacific Northwest Studies in June 2003.

Processing Note

Theresa L. Trebon of Continuum History and Research carried out the initial organization
and identification of the collection and facilitated its donation to the Center for Pacific
Northwest Studies in 2003. Jamie Cartwright and Virginia Walkowski continued the arrangement
of the photographs and negatives, and re-housed the materials into acid-free containers.
Amber Raney created the finding aid and arranged the textual materials, newspaper articles,
proof sheets, negatives, oversized photographs, and mock-ups, with assistance from Tom
Petruzzi.

Separated Materials

Other photographic and textual materials donated by Wallie V. Funk are
located at the Anacortes Museum in Anacortes, Washington, the Island County
Historical Museum in Coupeville, Washington, and the Museum of Northwest Art in
La Conner, Washington.

Bibliography

Trebon, Theresa L. First Views: An Early History of Skagit
County, 1850-1899(
Mount Vernon, Washington :
Skagit Valley Herald,
2002).